Freiburg reach first-ever European final with perfect home record

Victor Gomez managed to get past Noah Atubolu, but his shot ricocheted off the post before Rodrigo Zalazar’s follow-up effort was blocked by Philipp Lienhart on the goalline. Freiburg finished the half under pressure, but they hit the same post right after the restart when Grifo’s curling effort narrowly missed its target.

A few minutes later, Freiburg knocked again with Matthias Ginter’s low volley. Manzambi was the next to try his luck, but Lukáš Horníček made a decent save this time around. Atubolu made his first save of the night to deny Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Gorby before the hour mark, although the hosts were still dominant.

Igor Matanović was denied a penalty-kick before Joao Moutinho and Beste forced the two goalkeepers to make more saves. Horníček then pulled a stunning double save to keep out Matanović and Ginter from a corner-kick.

However, the Czechia international wasn’t able to stop Kübler from seemingly sealing Freiburg’s final ticket in the 72nd minute. The right-back headed home Grifo’s excellent set-piece delivery to score his second of the night.

Braga tried to get back in the game with an all-attack approach in the next five minutes, and Pau Victor pulled one back from Moutinho’s free-kick delivery. Gorby forced another save from Atubolu as Braga intensified the pressure in the closing stages, similar to last week's game.

However, Freiburg held on to their advantage with Atubolu making another super save from Gabri Martinez to secure qualification for their first-ever European final with a perfect home record in the competition.

Freiburg will face Hamburg and RB Leipzig before the Europa League final on May 20th at Beşiktaş Park, Istanbul. Aston Villa will be their opponents on that Wednesday night after they beat Nottingham Forest in an all-English semi-final.